Squats by Jeff D'Adam

by Personal TrainerJanuary 18, 2017

Squatting is one of the most fundamental human movements, and we do a really good job of forgetting how do it! Since the muscles we use for a squat motion are located on our backside, we often neglect them to a point where they become weakened. Then we couple sitting all day at work on a computer on top of an already peculiar motion, and we end up with joint pain all over our body. The point is that we need to be comfortable squatting in a functional manner. As I have discussed in previous blogs, our glutes are BIG strong muscles and letting them atrophy into a weakened state is a fundamental problem. We do not need to load 45 lb cakes on a barbell to train our glutes either! There are plenty of exercises to help build our glute muscles up to help us work up to a squat like some of EFS’s favorites like: lots of glute bridges, band walks, fire hydrants, lunges and step ups. Work your way up from the ground to a good body weight squat (or box squat). Once you master these we can start adding weighted resistance or challenge your body with devices like balance platforms, different trunk positions like overhead squats, barbells, or even medicine balls. Learning a squat can be a pain in the ass but once you do it, squatting will serve as one of your best all-around exercises to blast calories and build a strong foundation!